March 14 opposition alliance lawmakers are scheduled to hold a meeting at the Center House to take a final stance on the person they will name for the premiership during the binding consultations at Baabda palace, informed sources said Wednesday.

While the sources did not reveal to An Nahar newspaper when the meeting will be held, high-ranking al-Mustaqbal movement officials told As Safir that the final decision on the opposition’s candidate will be made on Thursday night.

Sharp differences between the Progressive Socialist Party and the Free Patriotic Movement surfaced on Tuesday over the energy and telecommunication portfolios despite the failure of the rival parties to agree on the nature of the new cabinet and the name of the PM-designate.

According to As Safir newspaper, PSP chief MP Walid Jumblat rejects handing over to the FPM the same shares that it had in the resigned government.

The opposition al-Mustaqbal bloc and the centrist National Struggle Front have agreed to throw their weight behind the person that ex-Premier Saad Hariri will name to lead the new government, a report said Tuesday.

Caretaker Minister Wael Abu Faour, who is close to National Struggle Front chief MP Walid Jumblat, held talks with Hariri in Riyadh and returned to Beirut late Monday.

Caretaker Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour is expected to hold talks with al-Mustaqbal Movement leader former Prime Minister Saad Hariri as part of consultations over the formation of the new cabinet.

Sources told the pan-Arab daily al—Hayat on Monday that Abou Faour, who is currently in Saudi Arabia, will meet with Hariri on the name of the PM-designate.

Consultations over the formation of the cabinet are ongoing as the March 8 and 14 alliances are still mulling the possibility of designating Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati to form the government that will oversee the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Sources said in comments published in Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper on Monday that the March 14 opposition are keen to prevent the March 8 majority alliance led by Hizbullah from claiming the majority by luring Miqati and centrist Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat to its coalition.

Al-Mustaqbal bloc leader Fouad Saniora on Saturday met with President Michel Suleiman before traveling to Saudi Arabia for a meeting with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Saniora held talks with Suleiman at Baabda palace on Saturday morning. He then traveled to Riyadh at the head of a delegation from al-Mustaqbal movement.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc ex-PM Fouad Saniora will head a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Saturday for talks with former PM Saad Hariri to brief him on the ongoing consultations among the parties affiliated in March 14 alliance.

According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday, Saniora and the accompanying delegation will discuss with Hariri, who is currently in Riyadh, the formation of the cabinet, the new electoral law and the critical situation the country is passing through.

Head of al-Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc ex-PM Fouad Saniora is expected to hold talks on Wednesday with Speaker Nabih Berri as part of consultations among foes over the new electoral law, An Nahar newspaper reported.

According to the daily, Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat and ex-Prime Minister Saad Hariri's adviser Mohammed Shatah, who are tasked by the bloc to tackle the electoral law with the rival parties, will also hold talks with the speaker.

Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani on Tuesday held former premiers Saad Hariri and Fouad Saniora “responsible for any attempt on his life or any harm he may suffer”, expressing that they will be "stigmatized" for trying to release him from his duties.

"I will remain Lebanon's Mufti until the end of my mandate or until I am deceased,” Qabbani confirmed during a meeting with a Syndicate of Editors' delegation.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati stressed on Sunday that he has conditions to accept his nomination to the premiership, revealing that former PM Saad Hariri contacted him after his resignation to congratulate him on his “bold step.”

“I have conditions to accept my nomination to premiership. We should know the nature of the next government and from whom it will consist. It should be useful and positive,” Miqati told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.